Quiet Place
In our busy world, it’s a challenge to find a quiet place. When it’s quiet, I sometimes like music. I also usually have a podcast on when I’m driving. I also enjoy being around people and people are not usually quiet. There are times when my “quiet place” is more needed than at other times. I think when life gets crazy busy, I need more quiet time to recover and regroup a bit.
Jesus modeled getting away for some quiet time. He often went off by Himself to pray and think. He also was trying to get to a quiet place where He and His followers could “debrief” regarding the mission they had been on. Check this out…
30 The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. 31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.
32 So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.33 But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. 34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. (Mark 6:30-34 NLT)
Jesus wanted to rest and minister to His disciples, but He was needed by the crowd. There are times when a leader must keep leading even when the plan was rest. I think it’s because His “reserve tank” was still filled. I’m thankful for His heart of compassion for hurting people. I’m also thankful that He modeled rest. I feel different after a time of rest. There are times that it’s hard to rest when so much work is waiting. I’m better when I’ve rested some. Rest can give perspective to the work. I think the Lord built us for rest because He rested on the 7th day of creation.
I like a quiet start to my day. I like to look back to yesterday and look forward to today. I can plan and create with more clarity in the quiet time. Quiet places and quiet time can create space for focus on my top priorities. I think it this world of notifications and noise, it’s hard to get to a time of quiet reflection, but it’s worth it.
Pressing On!
Dwayne